Archive for the ‘Rite Aid’ Category

Shopping Trip – January 10th

Monday, January 12th, 2009

First stop, Rite Aid, where I picked up some freebies:

Total spent: $2.00. But I will get $5.00 back in rebates, making it free plus $3.00 profit!
Total before coupons: $5.50
View receipt #1
View receipt #2

Got:

11 SoyJoy bars – used one coupon good for $3 off 10 bars, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon, which gave me the 11th bar free. Both of these coupons came from the 1/4 Smart Source newspaper inserts. And since SoyJoy was a free after rebate item last week, my coupons turned this into a moneymaker!

The only problem was that the cashier only rang up 10 bars by accident, so I was undercharged by .50 cents the first time. I realized this after I got to my car, so I went back inside and explained what happened. They then re-rang one of the bars, and I paid the .50 cents. The cashier was very appreciative (and surprised!) that I would come back to fix a mistake that was in my favor.

Next stop, Walgreens, where I scored a few more freebies and used my gift card to pay for some items that I needed:

Total spent: $2.58 out of pocket, put $8.58 on my rebate gift card
Total before coupons: $14.35
View receipt

Got:

2 rolls of first aid gauze – I still need lots of this for my toe, and these were clearanced to $1.59 each, so I picked up two.
1 roll of Reynolds wrap – used one coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to bring the price down to .99 cents, stacked with one $1/1 coupon from the 11/16 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free plus .01 cent overage!
4 foil roasting pans – these are handy to have around, and since they were on clearance for .25 cents each, I couldn’t pass it up!
2 Reeses’ Whips bars – used one coupon from the Walgreens sales flier to make them 2 for $1, stacked with one coupon for $1/2 from the 1/4 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free after coupons!
1 bottle of store brand Midol – this is a good example of when buying the store brand can save you some cash. I had a coupon for $1 off Midol brand pain reliever, but even after the coupon, this generic was still cheaper – for the exact same ingredients and dose! Cost: $6.99.

Shopping Trip – December 18th

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

I was finally able to limp out of the house for the first time last Thursday and do a little shopping!
I had grand plans to use my $25 prescription gift card from Walgreens to stock up on some grocery items that I needed – I was up there to see the podiatrist anyway, so it would have worked out perfectly. But we had to scrap that because it was starting to snow and get icy, and we wanted to get back before it got too bad. The coast doesn’t usually get a lot of snow, so this is a little unusual for us.

I figured I could just do some deals at Safeway instead, since that’s close to home. But we were in a hurry to get there, since the weather was getting progressively worse and we wanted to finish shopping before it got really bad. As a result, I didn’t have time to work out any great coupon deals, and I ended up spending more in one trip that I have in a long time. Here’s the breakdown:

Rite Aid:

Total spent: $9.99 – no coupons, sadly. But this does apply towards my “Gift of Savings” rebate.
View receipt

Got:

1 box of hair bleach – time to touch up my roots!

Safeway:

Total spent: $33.42
Total before coupons: $41.16
View receipt

Got:

1 package of tortillas
1 bag of cheese
1 carton of egg nog – I was feeling festive!
A six-pack of yoghurt – used a free yoghurt coupon that I won in a giveaway from Laura Williams’ Musings
A four-pack of yoghurt smoothies – on sale for $2.50, had a .75 cent manager markdown because of its 12/22 sell-by date. I needed lots of yoghurt because I was starting antibiotics, and this helps settle your stomach when you’re taking them.
1 tub of petroleum jelly – this is a must have when you’re bleaching your hair; It protects your hairline from irritation.
1 package of cotton swabs
1 package of Always pads – Regular price $6.29, stacked a $3 off Always catalina that I had received previously with a $1/1 e-coupon. This was my first attempt using e-coupons, and on my receipt it showed up as “Club Card” savings, without any special notation that it was an e-coupon.
1 package of first aid tape
1.43 pounds of broccoli
1 bunch of green onions
.59 pounds of yellow onion
1 Avocado
1 head of garlic
1.09 pounds of tomatoes
A 10 pound bag of potatoes

This one trip cost as much as my entire budget for the months of September and October combined!! Ugh. But I think it’s important to realize that it’s OK to pay more during those times when it’s just not feasible to bargain shop. I may be Super Coupon Girl, but when I’m limping through ice and snow in a soggy slipper – since I still can’t get my foot into a shoe – even I throw up my hands. I also wanted to make sure that we were well-stocked on produce and so forth, since I wasn’t sure how bad the weather was going to get. But because I save so much on the majority of my trips and have a stockpile to help me, it doesn’t break the bank to have an expensive month because of uncontrollable circumstances.

So what’s the weather like where you guys live? Have you been hit by a snowstorm yet? We normally don’t get much in the way of snow here, so this past week has been a bit unusual. I’ve never seen a snowman on the beach before:

Biggest Rebate Check Yet

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

I got a nice rebate check in the mail from Rite Aid today, for $159.39! This was for the October rebate period, when I got loads of cold medicine, a razor, toothpaste, and adult undergarments to donate. I paid $149.89 for these items, so not only did I get them all for free after rebate, but I made a profit of $9.50. As I’ve mentioned before, I consider these kind of rebates to be a good investment – I couldn’t make $9.50 in interest if I kept that money in the bank for two months, nor would I have a nice stockpile of medicine to show for it.

Shopping Trip – December 9th

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

I’m still limping around too much to go shopping, but here’s a trip from earlier last week when I was more mobile:

Total spent: $6.68
Total before coupons: $10.31
View receipt

Got:

.43 pounds of organic, fair trade coffee
1 bottle of Coffee Mate – on sale for $2.50, used a $1/1 printable, which doubled. Coffee Mate has extra $1/1 coupons that you can print as part of their promotion for the holiday flavors – so if you’ve hit your print limit on the others, check the new one out!
1 bag of Fresh Gourmet crispy onion salad toppings – on sale for $2.79, used a .55/1 printable, which doubled.
.24 pounds of green beans – used a peelie coupon good for .55 cents off green beans with the purchase of Fresh Gourmet salad toppings. The green beans were only .72 cents, and the coupon doubled, resulting in .33 cents of overage.

Next stop, Rite Aid –

Total spent: $4.84 – but I will get back $2 in rebates.
Total before coupons: $9.59
View receipt

Got:

1 package of Kotex – on sale for $3.59, used a .75/1 coupon that I received in the mail.
1 tube of Maybelline lipstick – on sale for $6, used a $4/1 coupon from the 12/7 Red Plum newspaper inserts. And I will get a $2 rebate back, making it free! See, at least I didn’t miss all the free lipstick deals last week!

Hopefully, I’ll be able to walk around normally in the next few days. In the meantime, Jai has been picking up groceries as needed, so the budget for December will reflect that accordingly.

Shopping Trip – December 6th

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

Safeway:

Total spent: .97 cents
Total before coupons: $38.50

View receipt #1
View receipt #2
View receipt #3
View receipt #4
View receipt #5
View receipt #6
View receipt #7

Got:

24 boxes of Ronzoni pasta – on sale for $1.50, used 24 $1/1 coupons from the 10/5 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free after coupon and doubles!
1 bottle of Coffee Mate – on sale for $2.50, used a $1/1 printable coupon – making the final price .97 cents after coupon, doubles, and bag credit.

I’ve been hanging onto my Ronzoni coupons, waiting for it to go back on sale. So if any of my readers who shop at Safeway still have these coupons, go get your free pasta!

Rite Aid:

Total spent: $5.00. But I will get back a $5 rebate, making it free!

View receipt

Got:

1 surge protector

For some reason, the surge protector was ringing up $16, even though it was supposed to be on sale for $5. The cashier manually overrode the price, and I asked if that would affect the rebate. She said no, because I did get the correct product for the rebate, so I should still receive the $5 rebate as advertised. But if I have any problems, I can always take it back.
They were all out of the headphones that were free after rebate this week, but I got a rain check for it which will allow me to get them for free once they restock.

Also, Rite Aid is running a promotion called “The Gift of Savings”, where you can receive gift certificates for making purchases at Rite Aid through December 24. Check out this page on I Heart Rite Aid for the full scoop!

First Shopping Trip of the Month – November 6th

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

I’m pretty well stocked on food at the moment, so my first trip for the month was just a quick run to Safeway yesterday to get some milk & creamer:

Total Spent: $3.31
Total before coupons: $13.06
View receipt

Got:

1 gallon of milk
1 16 ounce bottle of Coffee Mate – On sale for $2.50, used a .75/1 catalina that I received the last time I bought Coffee-Mate at Safeway.
3 trial-sized packets of Airborne – on sale for $2.19, used three $2/1 coupons from the 9/7 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free plus .31 cents overage each after doubles.
1 Zone bar – on sale for $1, and I used a $1 off coupon from the 9/7 Smart Source newspaper inserts. But I feel really bad – when I was checking through my inserts just now, I realized that this coupon expired on October 31st!!! I didn’t even think to check the expiration date!! No one else noticed either, so my coupon was scanned and doubled by another .50 cents. I’m sorry, Safeway!
1 Always pad – free with club card!

This was a pretty expensive trip, by my standards. I haven’t seen any unmissable deals so far this week. The “Home For The Holidays” promo is interesting, but I wasn’t wowed by any of the products listed in the ad. The good news is, there are a ton of participating products tagged all through the store. Safeway often has a “master list” of participating products for these store-sponsored catalina promos, and if you inquire at the customer service desk and they have it available, I guess sometimes they will make a copy for you. I’m going to look into this the next time I’m in there, or if another blogger gets the list and posts it, I will be sure to pass on the link. Once we know what all of the participating items are, it will be easier to identify any good deals.

I wouldn’t have even needed to buy the milk, except that the last gallon of milk I bought went bad sooner than I thought. I read the expiration date wrong in the store, and I thought it was good until next week…but no. I had to throw away about a third of a gallon. I really need to be careful when I buy milk at Walgreens – half the time the milk at my store is already expired when it’s on the shelf!

The deal with the Always pads is worth noting. Safeway has started offering free samples with your club card – there was a display of these in the feminine hygiene section. You can have one free sample per club card, or pay a small amount without a club card. The only problem was that instead of ringing up free, it came up .25 cents; but customer service quickly fixed this for me. They refunded me the quarter that I overpaid and marked the return on the original receipt, but I did not a get a receipt for the refund itself.

Next, I had to make a quick stop at Rite Aid. Forgive the terrible photo:

Total spent: $2.42 – no coupons, alas!
View receipt

Got 1 package of first aid gauze bandage

Not much I could do about this one. I needed first aid gauze for an owie, and had no gauze coupons, so I just got the cheapest one I could find.

Throwing A Party With Coupons: Part I

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Every year, I throw a huge Halloween bash, and spend a lot of time cooking loads of food for it. Here’s the grocery run that I made the day before the party:

Total spent: $7.65 cash out of pocket, put 64.66 on 2 different gift cards
Total before coupons: $96.45

View receipt #1
View receipt #2
View receipt #3
View receipt #4 – one of my items rang up twice, so they had to return $1 to my gift card
View receipt #5
View receipt #6
View receipt #7
View receipt #8

I didn’t use as many coupons as I might have normally, because I was in such a rush to get everything done for the party in time. But that’s okay, because I had a backup plan – my gift cards. I had one gift card that I earned for free for filling a prescription at Rite Aid, and a gift card for Walgreens that had my rebates loaded onto it. I’ve been able to slowly grow the amount on my Walgreens gift card and turn a profit by using coupons on rebate items, and by receiving a 10% bonus each time for opting to receive the rebates in gift card form.

There was one minor hitch in my plans at Fred Meyer, when I purchased 2 of the Glade plug-ins and only got one $4 catalina back. According to Common Sense With Money, the offer changed and was only printing one no matter how many you purchased. I had planned to whittle down my expenses by doing this deal a few times, but oh well!

So here’s what I picked up in anticipation of the shindig:

2 lipsticks
2 eyeliner pencils (the makeup was for my costume)
2 packages of fun sized Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
1 bag of fun sized Nestle Crunch – On sale for $1.88, used a $1/1 printable, which I believe is no longer available.
1 bag of fun sized Baby Ruth – Used same coupon as above – .38 cents a bag after coupons and doubles
A 5 pound bag of flour
4 cans of Swanson vegetable broth – used a coupon for .40 cents off four cans from the 9/28 Smart Source newspaper inserts
A 32 ounce bottle of Coffee Mate – used a .75/1 catalina that I received recently
2 Zone bars – on sale for $1, used two $1/1 coupons – free plus .50 cents of overage each after doubles
2 packages of Hot Dogs
1 Avocado
A 12 ounce bag of Starbucks coffee
1 big bag of gummy body parts
An 8 pack of Junior Mints
2 Glade Plug-Ins – used a “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source newspaper inserts
1 pound of Broccoli
1 pound of apples
1.63 pounds of organic bananas
1 jumbo head of garlic
1 can of refried beans
6 bags of plastic utensils – 144 pieces altogether
A huge bag of paper plates (I think there were 240 plates, but I threw away the bag)
A whole bunch of paper cups (There were 60 cups, I believe – I threw away the bag for this also)
3 pounds of butter
6 pounds of sugar
2 Halloween figurines
1 gallon of milk
1 skull goblet
1 box of baking soda
An 8 ounce bag of cheese
2 bags of tortilla chips
36 skull rings

Check back tomorrow for Part II, and I’ll show you the spooky buffet I served, how many guests it fed, and how much we have left over!

Shopping Trip – October 24th

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Friday’s shopping trip – $162.56 worth of merchandise for .28 cents!

I started at Walgreens:

Total spent: .10 cents out of pocket, put $16.78 on my rebate gift card. But I will get back $19.99 in rebates, plus a 10% bonus for loading them onto a gift card – for a total of $21.98 in rebates. And, I got an $8 Register Reward catalina back!
Total before coupons: $73.59
View receipt – My total after the gift card was actually .11 cents, but the cashier picked a penny out of the “take-a-penny” dish and said, “Here! I’ve got a penny, just give me a dime!”. That was nice of her!

Got:

3 boxes of Benefiber mix – on sale for $7.99, used three $2/1 coupons from the 10/19 Smart Source newspaper inserts, stacked with a $5/1 coupon from the EasySaver rebate booklet. This brought the total to $2.97 for three boxes, and I earned the $8 Register Reward for purchasing them!
1 package of 10 disposable gloves
1 bottle of Pert Plus – on sale for $3.49, used a $2/1 coupon from the 10/19 Smart Source newspaper inserts, stacked with a $2.50/1 coupon from the EasySaver booklet. Free plus $1.01 in overage!
1 bottle of L’oreal moisturizer – $19.99, used a $1/1 coupon from the 8/3 Red Plum newspaper inserts. And I will get back a $21.98 rebate for this purchase!
10 bars of Lindt chocolate – On sale for $2.29, and I used five .75/1 coupons and five “Buy One, Get One Free” coupons from the 10/5 inserts. Stacked with a $1 coupon from the EasySaver catalog, this resulted in .46 cents of overage for every 2 bars purchased.
5 Halloween bags

I also used a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $20 or more, which is valid only during the 24th and 25th. Heading to Walgreens today? Print one here!

Then I went through the line once more to spend my Register Reward:

Total spent: .18 cents
Total before coupons: $8.18
View receipt

Got:

1 gallon of milk
1 package of TP – There were several coupons that I could have used on this, but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
1 roll of foil
1 peanut butter cup

Then I headed to Fred Meyer:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $4.98 on the gift card I got for my birthday. And I got back $8 in catalinas!
Total before coupons: $12.76
View receipt

Got:

2 Glade Scented Oil Plug-Ins – used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source inserts
1 Glade Gel Plug-In – I found a catalina on the shelf for a free gel plug-in!
1 trial sized Zantac – on sale for .99 cents, used a $1 off any size Zantac coupon from the 9/7 Smart Source newspaper inserts. Free plus a cent overage!

Fred Meyer is running the Glade catalina deal as well, so I thought it would be a good investment to do the deal there a few times. Fred Meyer is a great place to spend catalinas because their prices are much lower than Safeway. Of course, Fred Meyer is also a 30 minute drive from me and they do not double coupons, so I factor all that in when determining where to get the best deal.

Then I went back through the line to roll my $8 in catalinas:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .47 on my birthday gift card
Total before coupons: $14.46
View receipt

Got:

2 Glade Warmers – once again, I used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source inserts
1 box of band-aids
1 package of Kotex – used one $1/1 coupon from the 10/12 Smart Source newspaper inserts

I then used my $8 in catalinas to bring the total down to .47 cents, and got another $8 in catalinas back!

Then I made one last trip through the line, to use up my catalinas:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .29 cents on my birthday gift card
Total before coupons: $47.29
View receipt

Got:

1 package of Kotex – used one $1/1 coupon from the 10/12 Smart Source newspaper inserts
A 5 pound bag of flour
A pound of onions
.41 pounds of mushrooms
A pound of tomatoes
An 8 ounce bag of cheese
38 Brut deodorants – on sale for $1, used thirty eight $1/1 coupons that I found in the store!

I then used my $8 in catalinas to bring the total down to .29 cents!

So while I was shopping, I noticed a lot of coupons hanging on the shelf for various products. One was for $1 off any size Brut deodorant or antiperspirant – and it was hanging right next to some Brut deodorant that was on sale for $1! The cashier was amazed, and so were the people in line behind me. I explained where to find the coupons – I made sure to leave product and coupons on the shelf for other customers – and the lady behind me actually got out of line and went to get some deodorant for herself!

Now, you’re probably thinking that this is excessive – why on earth would I buy 38 deodorants? How could I possibly use that much deodorant? The reason I got that many is because most of it is not for us. My aunt is involved with a local food bank, and told me a few days ago that they have a big need right now for personal products, like deodorant and toothpaste. So I put a few deodorants aside for my boyfriend, and will be taking the rest to the food bank. I hate clutter, and there is a place and purpose for everything that I purchase – even if it doesn’t always seem that way!

My final trip was to Rite Aid, to get some potting soil:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $6.28 on a gift card. I have yet to find coupons for potting soil, so this was the full price!
View receipt

Got: 2 bags of potting soil

I didn’t get a picture of the bags before using them, so here’s a snapshot of my planter. I want to start growing some of my own produce, and this is apparently the week to plant garlic, so that’s what I did. I thought this was a good investment towards next year’s food budget!

And in case you’re wondering how I got the gift card, I received it several months ago for filling a prescription at Rite Aid.

Shopping Trip – October 19th

Monday, October 20th, 2008

I hit up a few stores yesterday. First stop, Walgreens:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .15 cents on my rebate gift card
Total before coupons: $45.51
View receipt

Got:

18 bars of Lindt chocolate – These are on sale for $2.29 at my store, and I used nine .75/1 coupons and nine “Buy One, Get One Free” coupons from the 10/5 inserts. Stacked with a $1 coupon from the EasySaver catalog, this resulted in .46 cents of overage for every 2 bars purchased.
4 packages of TP
1 Halloween bag

I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to put chili peppers in chocolate, but this was all they had left on the shelf, so I guess I’ll have to try it out of morbid curiosity!

Next stop, Rite Aid:

Total spent: $11.68 – but I will get back $14.18 in rebates.
Total before coupons: $14.18
View receipt

Got:

1 tube of Crest toothpaste – used one $1/1 coupon from the 9/28 Proctor & Gamble newspaper inserts
1 package of Tena Serenity Underwear – used one $1.50/1 coupon from the 8/3 Smart Source newspaper inserts

While I have no use for the Tena or the toothpaste (I have more than enough toothpaste!), these items are free after rebate this week, and I will make $2.50 in profit thanks to the coupons that I used. If you think it’s a little overboard to buy things you don’t need, remember that you can always donate items like these. I may not have a personal use for the Tena, but I know a nursing home that will be happy to take it.

Then it was onwards to Fred Meyer:

Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .15 cents on a gift card I got for my birthday
Total before coupons: $6.09
View receipt

Got:

6 trial sized packets of Zantac – on sale for .99 cents, used six $1/1 coupons from the 9/7 Smart Source newspaper inserts
1 packet of Ramen

I got the Ramen simply as a filler item for the six cents of overage I was anticipating – a decidedly ironic choice for overage gained by purchasing antacids! However, it worked out a little different than I thought it would. My coupons stated that they were good for $1 off of any size Zantac, but they beeped and the cashier had to enter the price manually; and he only entered in .99 cents, not the full value of the coupon. Keep in mind, the manufacturer will reimburse the store for the full value of the coupon, which is $1, plus a handling fee – even if they key it in at .99 cents, the store will still get $1 back. So the Ramen ended up being unnecessary because of how he rang it up.

Final stop, Safeway:

Total spent: $1.02
Total before coupons: $21.99
View receipt #1 View receipt #2

Got:

1 Sunday newspaper
1 can of tuna
2 Glade Plug-ins – used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 Smart Source inserts
8 trial sized boxes of Tide – on sale for .89 cents, used eight $1/1 coupons from the 9/28 Proctor & Gamble newspaper inserts

For the first transaction, I got four Tides and the newspaper, with the goal of using the overage from the Tide to pay for it. However, the coupon beeped and prompted for manager approval. Once again, the coupon says that it is valid on any size of Tide, but the manager who came over instructed the cashier to key in the value of the coupon as .89 cents. The store will still be reimbursed for $1 by the manufacturer, even though it’s keyed in at .89 cents, so I don’t really understand why some managers make this their policy on overage. But on the bright side, they still doubled these coupons, so I received $2 in overage to pay for my paper nonetheless!

For the second transaction, I bought two Glade Plug-ins, using my $4 catalina from the Plug-ins I bought on Friday. I had also picked up four more Tides to pay for the remaining cost of the Glade, and grabbed a can of tuna as a filler item. Since I picked out all of the items that I purchased at the same time, and just split my order into two transactions at the register, I had done my calculations before I realized that the store would adjust the Tide coupons down – so both of these transactions came out to be more than I had expected. But I still got $8 in catalinas back for next time!

Shopping Trip – October 12th

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Here’s my big Rite Aid trip from Sunday:

Total spent: $133.21. But you can pick your jaw up from the floor – because I’m getting $140.21 back in rebates!
Total before coupons: $140.21
View receipt – I had to fold the receipt in half to fit it all in. I also blacked out my debit card number.

This was the “Free After Rebate” bonanza that I mentioned! I was in Rite Aid right when they opened to snag all the deals. And I got a ton of stuff:

1 bottle of Nighttime Theraflu
1 bottle of Sambucol immune system booster stuff
1 bottle of Buckley’s cough syrup
1 box of Sucrets throat soothing icy pops
Another brand of throat soothing icy pops – these may be aimed at kids, but I think they sound like a great idea for adults, too!
1 jar of Mentholatum rub
1 bottle of Little Colds cough syrup
1 bottle of Triaminic nightime cough syrup – all this cold medicine couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve almost finished this bottle off already! I know it’s kids medicine, but it’s the same ingredients as adult cough syrup – you just have to double the dose. And it tastes better. 😉
1 bottle of Children’s Advil
1 bottle of Chloraseptic Throat Numbing Spray
1 bag of Bee M.D. cough drops
1 bottle of 4 Way Nasal Decongestant
1 Neti Pot – this has got to be the strangest coupon item I’ve gotten yet. This is a tea pot – for your nose. I guess you stick it in your nose and it flushes your sinuses with saline?
1 box of Ayr saline stuff
1 Simply Saline kit
1 pediatric saline kit
1 bottle of Simply Saline allergy & sinus relief
1 bottle of Simply Saline cold formula
1 box of Breathe Again
1 box of Comtrex cold medicine
1 box of Zucol cold medicine
1 box of Sniffles ‘n Sneezes For Kids
1 box of Orajel cold sore treatment
1 tube of Novitra cold sore treatment
1 tube of Nexcare cold sore treatment
1 tube of Lizard Lips balm
1 tube of shimmery Chapstick
1 tube of LypSyl lip balm
1 2-pack of SoftLips lip balm

In addition to all of these items being free after rebate, I also used some coupons to result in a profit. A friend sent me a coupon that she found for $5 off a $25 or higher purchase at Rite Aid (Thanks, Cathy!), so used that, and also two $1 off “peelie” coupons that I found attached to two of the saline products in the store. I don’t have a personal need for some of this stuff – I’ve never used saline solution or had cold sores before – but I can give it to others, and everybody wins!

You may also notice that I don’t count money spent on rebate items as part of my budget. Why is this? The way I see it, when I buy normal items that I need for my household, that is money that is spent and gone. But money that is paid for rebate items is not gone – I get it right back, plus the products and often a cash profit as well. I see rebates as simply an investment of my money, not an expense.

This Rite Aid trip was a perfect example of this. I paid $133.21, but I’m getting $140.21 back – when was the last time you got $7 interest for keeping your money in the bank for a month? Not to mention that I have $140 worth of merchandise as well! And in case you’re wondering how often these rebates actually come back, this rebate has already been processed and is ready to be claimed. Here’s a screen capture from my status page on the Rite Aid Single Check Rebate website:

I could request my rebates right away, but I’m going to wait until the end of this month’s rebate period – you can’t claim rebates at Rite Aid more than once per period, and I’m sure there will be other rebates deals that I’ll want to do this month, so I will wait and claim them all at once.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that rebate items are paid for using the “mad money” part of my budget, so to speak. That’s the wiggle room in my budget after factoring in all bills, expenses, savings, and so on. After all, it would be counter-productive to invest money in rebates if it took away from another area in my budget.

After all the fun at Rite Aid, I stopped by Safeway to pick up the Sunday newspaper:

Total spent: .29 cents
Total before coupons: $14.08
View receipt – I paid in exact change, but the cashier accidentally punched in “$29.00” instead of .29 cents, in case anyone was wondering about that!

Got:

2 Glade plug-ins – used one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 9/28 newspaper inserts
1 Sunday Newspaper

For this transaction, I just rolled two of the $4 catalinas that I had from the last time I did this Glade deal, and used them to pay for the Plug-in and newspaper. I then got two more $4 catalinas back!